Press Release: Thinking Shakespeare Live! 2018

Celebrating the Release of the Revised Edition of BARRY EDELSTEIN’s THINKING SHAKESPEARE—A How-To Guide for Student Actors, Directors, and Anyone Else Who Wants to Feel More Comfortable with the Bard—AndReprising His Popular THINKING SHAKESPEARE LIVE!Free on SATURDAY, JULY 28 at 11:00 A.M. in the Neil Morgan Auditorium, SAN DIEGO CENTRAL LIBRARY @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common

SHARE THE SHAKESPEARE ~ UNDERSTAND THE TEXT!

SAN DIEGO (July 9, 2018)—For many San Diegans, their ability to understand and appreciate the wonders of the Bard during our Summer Shakespeare Festival has increased exponentially since they joined us for Thinking Shakespeare Live!, a 90-minute exploration of the language of Shakespeare led by the Globe’s Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and assisted by three professional classical actors. This special free program celebrates TCG’s newly released revised edition of Edelstein’s book Thinking Shakespeare: A How-To Guide for Student Actors, Directors, and Anyone Else Who Wants to Feel More Comfortable with the Bard.

The Old Globe will offer a reprise of Thinking Shakespeare Live! on Saturday, July 28 at 11:00 a.m. at the Neil Morgan Auditorium at the San DiegoCentral Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common. This is a free event with limited availability, so reservations are highly recommended. Tickets can be reserved after July 13 at 12:00 noon online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Globe Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. There will be a standby line on the day of the event starting at 10:00 a.m. The Central Library is located at 330 Park Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92101.

Parking at theSan DiegoCentral Library: The parking structure at the Library contains limited, non-reserved spaces that are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Two-hour free parking validation will be available in the first floor lobby. For those who do not choose to validate, the regular parking rate is $1.25 per 20 minutes or part thereof. Early arrival in downtown is recommended.

Coinciding with The Old Globe’s 2018 Shakespeare Festival, Thinking Shakespeare Live! is a fast-paced, funny, and altogether fascinating guide to the language of the Bard. This popular program reveals a performer’s approach to Shakespearean language so audiences may easily understand the poetry of the Bard. It is an ideal introduction to Shakespeare for families and young audiences as well as an exciting new look at the playwright for Bardophiles. In this lively 90-minute program, Edelstein, called by NPR “one of the country’s leading Shakespeareans,” provides audiences a unique opportunity to learn the methods he imparts to professional actors in the rehearsal room. As Edelstein and three skilled actors demonstrate these techniques live on stage, this entertaining behind-the-scenes look at the creative process offers a primer on the tools used to hear and understand Shakespeare. With humor and insight, it brings audiences into the intoxicating world of the Bard and shows how his masterful poetry can come to life for everyone. Edelstein has performed this across the country, most recently at the Folger Shakespeare Library on June 1, and he will continue to bring the presentation to other cities throughout the summer.

“I’m pleased to mark the publication of the revised edition of my book Thinking Shakespeare by once again presenting its live incarnation,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Thinking Shakespeare Live! is such fun for me to do, and I relish the opportunity to share my passion for this amazing writer with new audiences. The program opens the door to the rehearsal room and shows how those of us lucky enough to work on Shakespeare for a living go about this work. I’m especially pleased to present the program at the San Diego Central Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common and to extend the Globe’s important partnership with the Library in this way.”

The three professional actors who will take part in the presentation will be announced shortly.

Barry Edelstein (Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director) is a stage director, producer, author, and educator. Recognized as one of the leading American authorities on the works of Shakespeare, he has directed nearly half of the Bard’s plays. His Globe directing credits include The Winter’s Tale; Othello; The Twenty-seventh Man;the world premiere of Rain; and Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Hamlet, and the world premiere of The Wanderers. He also directed All’s Well That Ends Well as the inaugural production of the Globe for All community tour. As Director of the Shakespeare Initiative at The Public Theater (2008–2012), Mr. Edelstein oversaw all of the company’s Shakespearean productions as well as its educational, community outreach, and artist-training programs. At The Public, he staged the world premiere of The Twenty-seventh Man, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, Timon of Athens, and Steve Martin’s WASP and Other Plays.He was also Associate Producer of The Public’s Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino. From 1998 to 2003 he was Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company. Mr. Edelstein’s other Shakespearean directorial credits include The Winter’s Tale at Classic Stage Company; As You Like It starring Gwyneth Paltrow; and Richard III starring John Turturro. His additional credits include the Lucille Lortel Award-winning revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons; the world premiere of Steve Martin’s The Underpants, which he commissioned; and Molière’s The Misanthrope starring Uma Thurman in her stage debut. Mr. Edelstein has taught Shakespearean acting at The Juilliard School, New York University’s Graduate Acting Program, and the University of Southern California. His book Thinking Shakespeare, which was rereleased in a second edition in June,is the standard text on American Shakespearean acting. He is also the author of Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions. He is a graduate of Tufts University and the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

The Old Globe 2018 Summer Shakespeare Festival is the best place in town to enjoy the finest of the Bard’s work, outdoors under the stars in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. The Tempest, directed by Joe Dowling (former artistic director for Guthrie Theater and Abbey Theatre), with star of stage and screen Kate Burton as Prospera, runs through July 22, 2018, and received rave reviews. Prospera, the Duchess of Milan, lives in exile on a desert island after being thrown out of power by her wicked brother. For company, she has only her daughter Miranda, the spirits who are native to the island, and her beloved books. The books are the source of her dark magic, which she uses to lure her enemies to the island so she can exact revenge. But her plot could destroy Miranda’s happiness, so Prospera must choose between her own anger and her daughter’s future. This enchanting fantasy, brimming with magic and romance, kicks off the 2018 Shakespeare Festival with spectacle under the stars.

Next up is Much Ado About Nothing, running August 12 – September 16, 2018. Three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (the Globe’s Love’s Labor’s Lost) makes her triumphant return as director to our Festival stage with one of the greatest romantic comedies ever, in a production full of colorful characters, passionate poetry, and Shakespeare’s wittiest wordplay. Everyone can see that confirmed bachelor Benedick and headstrong Beatrice are meant for each other—except for Benedick and Beatrice themselves! While their friends try to trick the bickering pair into admitting they’re in love, their young sidekicks Hero and Claudio start a romance of their own. But will false accusations, broken promises, and even a nutty and bumbling police force prevent a happy ending?

The Globe will present four free Shakespeare-related films in a return of Free Monday Night Film Screenings, curated by Edelstein and introduced by KPBS’s “Cinema Junkie” Beth Accomando. The films include Fred Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet on July 9 (with free beer and popcorn!), Ralph Fiennes’sCoriolanus on July 16, Orson Welles’sOthello on July 30, and Ian McKellen’s Richard III on August 27. Admission is free. Seating for each film is first-come, first-served and by general admission. The line begins one hour before each screening.

The 2018 Summer Season also includes Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, presented by The Old Globe and Children’s Theatre Company, in partnership with The Old Vic. Based on the book The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, it was adapted for the stage by David Greig, with music and lyrics by Charlie Fink, and directed by Max Webster. Originally produced at The Old Vic (directed by Webster), Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax includes puppet design by Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes, choreography by Drew McOnie, and scenic and costume design by Rob Howell. Performances run July 2 – August 12, 2018, on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. This is the critically acclaimed and Olivier Award–nominated musical event of the summer. Silky soft Truffula trees provide the perfect ingredient for a nifty new garment. But when demand skyrockets, who will speak for all the trees in the Truffula forest? Enter the Lorax. Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax has been enchanting adults and children alike for generations, and his irresistible, big-hearted, mustachioed hero is brought to inventive life in what critics call a “mad, uproarious delight” (The Independent). Audiences of all ages are thrilled by the brilliant, eye-popping colors, infectious music, and beloved story that the Financial Times called “joyous and all-too-timely.”

Director Jessica Stone (Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) returns to the Globe to extend our decades-long relationship with giant comic playwright Neil Simon with this fresh and hilarious new look at his “bubbling, rib-tickling comedy” (The New York Times). Barefoot in the Park runs July 28 – August 26, in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Fresh off a honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel, free-spirited Corie and her buttoned-down husband Paul find themselves struggling to adjust to married life in their run-down New York walk-up. Throw in a loopy meddling mother, an eccentric Bohemian upstairs neighbor, and a double date that goes disastrously wrong, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for laughter.

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego’s flagship arts institution for over 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Meteor Shower, Bright Star, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

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Thinking Shakespeare—a working guide for actors, directors, students… and anyone else interested in the Bard

“Barry Edelstein directed me as Othello at The Old Globe a few years ago, and it was an amazing experience: quite frankly, the highlight of my career. To take on one of Shakespeare’s greatest roles was daunting and overwhelming, to say the least. Barry understands how Shakespeare’s words work and how his characters think. He makes Shakespeare accessible to the actors who embody the characters and to an audience. He explains things in terms that actors like, concrete terms that an actor can really use. This book captures his voice and his knowledge, and, like him, it’s clear and fun. I recommend it for any actor, or anyone who wants to know more about Shakespeare.” —Blair Underwood

“Barry Edelstein knows more about Shakespeare, and in a less pedantic manner, than nearly anyone I know.” —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker

“Barry Edelstein is a marvel, someone who combines a scholar’s precision with a showman’s sense of delight. This book is simply essential reading for those who are passionate, or even curious, about Shakespeare. Barry is one of America’s most distinguished Shakespeareans, an artist and a scholar, and a beautiful guide to the mystery and power of the greatest writer in the history of the globe. His book is accessible, detailed, loving, learned, and delightful.” —Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director, The Public Theater

“Mr. Edelstein’s book is the next best thing to being in one of his eye- and ear-opening classes on Shakespeare. Read it aloud, and, as with Shakespeare, you will be appreciably wiser.” —Kevin Kline

“Barry Edelstein has a wonderful grasp of how Shakespeare’s plays work. Rich in insight and beautifully written, Thinking Shakespeare is the best guide I know of to the challenges that confront every student and actor who reads or performs the plays.” —James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare; Professor of English, Columbia University

“Barry Edelstein really knows his Shakespeare. When he directed me in As You Like It, the depth of his knowledge about the text unlocked the character of Rosaline. His knowledge really served to deepen my work. His book Thinking Shakespeare puts this knowledge in a fun, accessible form. I highly recommend it.” —Gwyneth Paltrow

“Taking a workshop on speaking Shakespeare with Barry Edelstein was revelatory to me. I think I learned as much or more than I had from any single book, and it struck me that he is one of those rare individuals with insight into both the literary and the dramatic power of the language.” —Ron Rosenbaum, author of The Shakespeare Wars

“Barry Edelstein is that rare combination of Shakespeare scholar and superb theatre practitioner, and this book is an inspiring and eminently practical guide to the Bard. I’ve been directed by Barry and I know: he’s the real thing.” —Richard Thomas

“Barry Edelstein is one of the great teachers of Shakespeare’s text, and this book will be invaluable for actors and audiences alike.” —Michael Kahn, Former Director, Juilliard Drama Division; Artistic Director, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington DC

The publication of Thinking Shakespeare by Barry Edelstein, through TCG’s Book Program, is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.First TCG Revised Edition is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc. 520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018-4136, June 2018. Available in paperback or ebook, 480pp, $17.95.